Winners of Perstorp Open Innovation Challenge Are Announced

Perstorp Holding AB, Malmö, Sweden, producer of specialty chemicals, has announced the three finalists in its Innovation Challenge, a competition launched in September 2015 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its unique Capa caprolactone thermoplastic materials.

The purpose of the contest was to crowdsource ideas for a future challenge in this ever-changing world, and creatively applying Perstorp’s Capa materials. The three finalists are:

Flexii
, a submission from brothers Kashyap and Chintan Gohel, for flexible furniture. Both are students at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Juja, Kenya. Using the tagline of “Flexii – with you every step of the way,” the brothers imagine using Perstorp’s remoldable Capa Thermoplastics to make, repair and remold furniture into new shapes and designs rather than disposing of used or broken pieces in landfills.

Long-term material delivery system
, a submission from Ph.D. student Feng Shiyan and graduate student Liana Christiani in Japan, is based on an idea for a long-term drug-delivery system where a biodegradable capsule would be inserted to the body and as biodegradation happens the drugs will slowly be released. Their idea is to modify a polycaprolactone (PCL)-based biomaterial, the polymer used in the Capa products, to assist in delivery of nanoscale medications for chronic diseases such as cancer and HIV-AIDS.

Manufacturing with 3-D printed molds
, an idea from Alexander Osika in Sweden, is based on a concept for 3-D printing medium-scale production. The low melting point of Capa thermoplastics can allow it to be used for 3-D printers to create plastic molds where Capa can be compression molded.

A jury consisting of external experts and Perstorp representatives judged the submissions based on the following criteria: Capa’s role in solving the challenge, implementability, innovation height and value for society. All three finalists are invited to Sweden to present their concepts to the jury and to Perstorp senior management. Each has also received Capa Thermoplastics for prototyping, and will receive support from Perstorp senior experts until the ultimate winner is chosen.

The top prize winner will receive a cash prize of SEK 40,000 (about EUR 4,300), a paid visit to the K-Fair in October and a personal senior Perstorp mentor for one year.